Alison Green, Web Designer and Front-End Developer

26 Pages·2017·0.33 MB·English

by  Alison Green

Alison Green, Web Designer and Front-End Developer
021 932 987 • [e-mail] • webweaver.co.nz

• Highly developed skills in client liaison, project planning and scoping, IA/UX and wireframing,
web design, front-end development, responsive design/development, NZGWS accessibility
compliance, writing and editing, validation, browser/device testing, proofreading, writing
technical documentation, QA testing and CMS training; based on over 20 years' experience.
• Designed and/or developed over 250 websites including 80+ government projects since 1996 –
and have done contract work with 11 in-house web teams and 26 web design agencies.
• Extensive experience includes sites for BNZ Bank, Dept of Internal Affairs (Govt.nz), MBIE,
Toyota, RadioNZ, Co-op Bank, Fairfax, Kirkaldie & Stains, Sorted, Museums Wellington, NIWA,
WellingtonNZ, Ministry for the Environment, Optimation, Historic Places Trust, Salvation Army,
NZWood, Weta, NZ String Quartet, Tourism NZ, Education NZ, Māori Media Network, LINZ,
WWF-NZ, KiwiSaver, National Library, Office of Film & Literature Classification, Ministry of
Education, DoC, Victoria Uni, WOMAD, Contact Energy, Fonterra, Transpower, and Icebreaker.
• Expertise in HTML, XHTML, HTML5, CSS, CSS3, LESS, SASS and jQuery for a wide range of CMSs
including Drupal, Expression Engine, Joomla!, MySource Matrix, Plone, Shado, SilverStripe,
Sharepoint, Sitecore, WordPress and .net, plus some bespoke systems.
• Strong experience in designing and developing websites including responsive designs, with
expertise in cross-browser, cross-device, cross-OS design, development and testing.
• Effectively manage projects and timelines, always delivering my work on time and within
budget. As an experienced employee and contractor I can quickly grasp the requirements of
any web design project and work as part of any team, whether Agile or waterfall-based,
requiring very little supervision or instruction.
• Energetic and intelligent self-starter with an eye for detail and an understanding of the big
picture, a logical and creative mind and a commitment to excellence. Easy to work with, enjoy
teamwork (in which I tend to take on the role of Completer Finisher), mentoring, and
thoughtful collaboration with a wide range of people. I specialise in the calm and methodical
approach when working to a deadline. I’m practical, organised and sensible and I love
problem-solving. I am a versatile and focused perfectionist giving 100% to every project, and I
don’t stop until it’s done.
Further details about my web design experience, skills and expertise can be found in my web
portfolio, at http://webweaver.co.nz
Alison Green’s CV – July 2017 1
Strengths
My strengths in web design/development lie in my proven ability to:
• work as part of a team, either using waterfall or Agile methodologies, sharing my knowledge
• build strong, ongoing relationships with my clients and colleagues (often asked back)
• develop logical, user-focused and easy-to-navigate site architecture within a visually appealing
and uncluttered design, maintaining brand consistency between print and web
• design and build websites which conform to NZ government accessibility guidelines; which
validate to W3C standards; and which contain clean and tidy code
• code HTML/CSS/jQuery by hand to a very high standard, using LESS and SASS as pre-processors
• wireframe, design and build responsive websites
• use the wide range of software necessary for the creation of websites and graphics, as well as
video and audio editing software
• follow sensible version control protocols using a wide range of SVN software
• research and write or edit content, proof-read and maintain quality control
• deliver fully-tested (cross-platform, cross-browser, on multiple devices) error-free websites or
templates within time and budgetary constraints, requiring minimal supervision.

I was a member of the 2007 New Zealand team that won the inaugural international website
building competition, FullCodePress – having been selected as the Captain’s Choice All-Rounder.
I was nominated for four ONYA awards in 2010, when three of my websites were finalists in the
categories of Best Accessibility, Best Use of HTML and CSS (two sites) and Best Content (Personal).
In 2011 the WellingtonNZ site I helped build for Chrometoaster was a finalist in the Most
Outstanding Website category, the ONYAs’ top award.

Other skills
I have 5 years’ experience managing groups of creative people in high-stress environments, and
practice the art of mutually-satisfying compromise. I’m skilled in production management and the
organisation of large-scale events, festivals and shows. I have strong presentation and
communication skills, and I’m a good teacher and mentor. I’m also an experienced public speaker,
and took part in many TV and radio interviews when I was an event manager and publicist.

Education
BSc. Honours Degree in Biological Sciences
University of Nottingham, England
Post Graduate Certificate of Education in primary teaching
Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham, England

Interests
I play the caixa drum in Wellington’s street samba group, Batucada. I can also juggle fire.
Alison Green’s CV – July 2017 2
Web design career snapshot -
More details at http://webweaver.co.nz/about/career-snapshot
1996-present WebWeaver Productions Information architect, UX designer, web designer,
front-end developer (freelancer)
2016-present Acumen Republic Web consultant, WordPress developer
(contractor)
2016-2017 Transpower UX, designer, front-end developer (contractor)
2016 Touchcast Front-end developer (contractor)
2015-present Ramp Brand Web consultant, front-end developer (contractor)
Communications
2015-present Office of Film & Literature IA, web designer, front-end developer (contractor)
Classification
2014 Bank of New Zealand Front-end developer (contractor)
2013-2014 Dept of Internal Affairs Web designer, front-end developer (contractor)
2013-2014 inov8 Front-end web developer (contractor)
2013-present Insight Consultants Ltd Web consultant, front-end developer (contractor)
2013 Proximity Front-end developer (contractor)
2013 Department of Corrections Web content co-ordinator (contractor)
2012 Co-operative Bank Front-end developer (contractor)
2012-2013 Radio New Zealand Front-end developer (contractor)
2012 Heyday Front-end dev, SilverStripe integrator (contractor)
2012 Fairfax Digital IA, web designer (contractor)
2011 Learning Media Web editor (contractor)
2010-2011 Designworks Front-end developer (contractor)
2010 Datacraft IA, web designer, front-end developer (contractor)
2010 Plan A IA, web designer, front-end developer (contractor)
2010-2012 Chrometoaster Front-end developer (contractor)
2009-2010 Shift Front-end developer (contractor)
2009 Badger Communications Flash developer (contractor)
2009-2011 Optimation IA, web designer, front-end developer (contractor)
2009 DNA Front-end developer (contractor)
2009 Origin Design Front-end developer (contractor)
2007-2008 Optimation Web designer, front-end developer (contractor)
2006-2008 Shift Website producer (employee)
2006 Base Two Senior web integrator (employee)
2005-2007 LINZ Web developer (contractor)
2005 Shift Front-end developer (contractor)
2004-2005 Origin Design Front-end developer (contractor)
2004 Oryx Technologies Web designer, front-end developer (contractor)
2004-2005 CWA New Media Web designer (contractor)
Alison Green’s CV – July 2017 3
2003-2004 Open Polytechnic Technical editor - web design course (contractor)
2001-2003 Origin Design Senior web developer (employee)
2001 Origin Design Front-end developer (contractor)
2000 Modus Seminars Course developer, writer, tutor (contractor)
2000 Mission Hall Front-end developer (contractor)
2000 Base Two Front-end developer (contractor)
1996-1999 CWA New Media IA, web designer, front-end developer (contractor)

Selected case studies
I’ve worked on over 250 web projects since 1996, and my online portfolio contains over 200 case
studies. Here’s a quick snapshot of just a few.

There are many more at http://webweaver.co.nz/case-studies

Transpower, June 2016 - March 2017 – UX, designer and front-end developer

Transpower’s Grid Operators who manage the National Grid were using an old application that
had been co-opted from another team and wasn’t entirely fit for purpose in its new environment.
They wanted a new application custom-made for the Grid Operators – based on the original
application but reinvented to match exactly what they needed. They felt it would be useful to have
a UX designer on the team, to help them figure out how to turn their requirements into reality.
Several processes had to be integrated with other Transpower applications, sharing and updating
information/data between apps, which added another layer of complexity to the project.

I was responsible for information architecture, UX consultation and design, wireframes and
schematics (keeping these updated on an ongoing basis), responsive application design, front-end
development of the application screens, HTML5, CSS3, close collaboration and consultation with
the developer, working on the integrated application within Visual Studio once the developer had
built the app, post-integration testing and QA. I also helped the BA to maintain and update the
requirements.

The project was carried out within an Agile work environment. The process was highly
consultative, with expert opinions being sought daily from our two SMEs (Grid Operators from
Auckland and Christchurch) and also from the rest of the team, particularly our BA, our chief
tester, our developer, and our system integration and security specialist.

My aim was to design and build an app that was easy to use, logical, completely intuitive, met all
of their requirements and was visually clean and user-friendly. Grid Operators are the Air Traffic
Controllers of Transpower – their job is stressful and includes life-or-death job tracking and record
keeping, so I wanted this new app to be as stress-free as possible, and to make their job easier.

Achievements:
• I was initially contracted for 6 weeks-ish, but the team found my input so useful that I ended
up being kept on for almost the entire project – nearly 6 months – and then asked back for a
month to work on phase 2 - additional screens for the app.
Alison Green’s CV – July 2017 4
• I was the first UX designer that Transpower have used, and my contribution meant that, unlike
in previous projects where their developers were expected to translate the requirements into
an application themselves, our developer was freed up to concentrate on her core skill -
development – rather than having to do all the UX thinking as well.
• My visual representation of the project requirements:
• Was more meaningful for the “visual” members of our team than the written
requirements. It ensured that we were all on the same page, as visual wireframes are much
clearer and less open to different interpretations.
• Allowed our BA to check that all her requirements were complete and made sense.
• Provided our SMEs with a visual representation of the application which they could
immediately relate to and improve.
• The act of building the wireframes forced me – and by extension, the rest of the team – to
think through the whole application, allowing us to pick up holes, inconsistencies and illogic
within them, long before we got to the development stage. On a couple of occasions this
resulted in my doing a complete re-think of how particular processes should work and how
they would integrate with other Transpower apps – which saved the project a considerable
amount of time and wasted effort in the long run.
• My continual updating of existing wireframes as we worked our way through the sprints and
added more functionality and screens provided us with an ongoing record of our thought
processes - a “visual versioning” of the project.
• My wireframes acted as a blueprint for the developer, which meant that she could develop,
rather than having to decide how things worked and where things went (which is how they
had worked in the past). This mean that:
• We ended up with a much better product because the developer could concentrate on
developing – and as a result had sufficient head-space to suggest further improvements.
• There was a consistency between screens because our layouts had been drawn up in
advance rather than put together on the fly.
• The overall design was a huge improvement over previous Transpower applications, as it
was done by a designer (me) rather than by a developer.
• After the project was complete and the app launched, the feedback from the Grid Operators
was overwhelmingly positive – and I was invited to make a presentation of the app and the
role of the UX designer to other teams within Transpower so that they could see the benefits
of working in this way.

OFLC, November 2016 - June 2017 – designer and front-end developer

I have carried out a number of web projects for the Office of Film & Literature Classification over
the past ten years, including two redesigns and rebuilds of each of their two websites – the main
site and their website for NCEA students. They had always requested Dreamweaver templates as
their staff knew how to use Dreamweaver and enjoyed it. In the proposals for the most recent
redesign/rebuild of both sites I had suggested converting the sites to the SilverStripe CMS. In 2016,
after a change of staff, it became clear that the time had come to do this. I had designed and built
both sites with this in mind, so it was a straightforward process to work with my programmer to
convert both sites to SilverStripe. The challenging and tricky bit was to create a modular system
Alison Green’s CV – July 2017 5
within the CMS that would enable the website editors to continue to build the complex HTML
layouts that already existed on the site, without having to code the HTML any more.

I was responsible for client liaison, proposal and quote, project management, scoping, CMS UX/IA,
wireframes and schematics, post-integration template testing, e-government compliance testing,
browser and device testing, CMS training, and ongoing support. I also did the majority of the
content-loading and all the QA prior to launch.

Achievements:
• Facilitated the successful conversion of the existing websites from Dreamweaver to
SilverStripe without having to rebuild or redesign any of the page templates.
• Worked with my programmer Tom St George to completely customise the CMS so that editors
could still include all the complex HTML formatting they were used to, without having to code
the HTML any more. SilverStripe does not do this out-of-the-box, so we worked together to
visualise what the editors should see/do (me) and to build this within SilverStripe (Tom).
• Ran successful CMS training workshops for a large group of OFLC staff whose previous
experience with HTML/CSS and CMSs ranged from none to expert web editors.

Bank of New Zealand, Sept-Dec 2014 – front-end developer
http://www.webweaver.co.nz/case-studies/list/bnz-community

The Community web project - an interactive community and forum for BNZ customers - was
nearing completion. They needed someone to finish it off, tidy it up, and get it over the line.

I initially joined the in-house web team for four weeks to carry out the front-end development and
was responsible for the HTML5 and CSS3 (SASS) coding, browser and device testing. The project
was managed using informal Agile methodology and the responsive website was set within the
Lithium CMS framework.

Achievements:
• Picked up this project at a crucial (and late) stage of its development, figured out what needed
doing to get it ready for launch, and delivered this to the client within a month.
• My contract was twice extended for an additional month beyond the original contract period,
as the client liked my work and wanted me to continue to improve the site post-launch.

Govt.nz, Dec 2013 - June 2014 – designer and front-end developer
http://www.webweaver.co.nz/case-studies/list/govt-nz

A ground-breaking project run by the Department of Internal Affairs, that seeks to improve the
way that government communicates with citizens online. It is based on the UK all-of-government
website, GOV.UK, and both sites are user-focused, with user testing as their foundation.

I was taken on to replace the original designer/front-end developer halfway through the Beta
phase. I was responsible for UX research, UX proposal-writing and UX design, responsive web
design, responsive front-end development within an instance of the Government's Common Web
Platform (CWP), browser and device testing, government web standards accessibility compliance
Alison Green’s CV – July 2017 6
and testing to the very highest level, post-integration testing and QA, attending regular team
meetings and doing regular "show and tell" updates for the major stakeholders within DIA.

Achievements:
• The site was listed as one of the top 8 government websites in the world by FutureGov Digital
and featured in their e-book, Design secrets of the world’s best e-government web sites.
• Took over this project from my predecessor who had provided no handover documentation
and with elements half-completed, so I sorted out the templates and stylesheets, figured out
what he was aiming to do, completed some elements and improved on others before moving
on to complete the front-end dev sitewide.
• Met the design brief I had been given, which was to re-design the site to consciously move
away from the GOV.UK design without changing too much of the HTML, and to give the site a
much more Kiwi flavour. We delivered a fantastic, beautifully-written product that was an
enormous improvement on its predecessor, newzealand.govt.nz.

Radio New Zealand, Oct 2012 and Feb/May 2013 – front-end developer
http://www.webweaver.co.nz/case-studies/list/radio-nz

I had first met Richard Hulse when we were both up for the same ONYA awards in 2010. The Radio
New Zealand website had won both awards, and now that it was in need of an update, Richard
decided to ask me to build the templates for him.

I was honoured! I was responsible for the HTML (HTML5), CSS (including CSS3 and LESS) and
jQuery for the new design, incorporating a very high level of accessibility compliance into the
build. I also did some design development, plus testing and QA of the completed templates, and a
couple of days of additional templating once the web team had begun to integrate their existing
content into the new templates.

Achievements:
• Improved on the original design by tweaking the colour palette to make it fully accessible and
adding missing colours where required.
• Incorporated an extremely high level of accessibility into my HTML/CSS build, ensuring that the
website is usable by everyone.
• Successfully built and delivered a full set of templates based on the 960 grid - to a standard
that allowed the web team at a later date to add responsivity to the website without having to
rebuild it – saving them considerable time and money.

Holmes Consulting Group, Sept 2009-Apr 2010 – IA, designer, front-end developer
http://www.webweaver.co.nz/case-studies/list/holmes

The international structural engineering firm Holmes Consulting Group asked for a completely new
photography-centered design, new HTML/CSS templates, and a new CMS, which would be
populated with all-new content.

I was responsible for the initial quote, information architecture, site schematics, ongoing project
Alison Green’s CV – July 2017 7
management and client liaison, web design, HTML and CSS, jQuery, testing, putting together the
skeleton site in SilverStripe, CMS training, QA and proof-reading, and ongoing support.

Achievements:
• Created a beautiful design based on the Fibonacci Sequence which the client was so inspired
by, she used it as the central theme of her presentation of the new website to company staff.
• Used JavaScript to enable the website to display five times as many photographs as there was
space on the page, by creating an innovative sliding effect with multiple photo strips.
• Designed and built this website from start to finish with the help of my WebWeaver
programmer Tom St George, delivered on-time and on-budget.

Ministry for the Environment, April-Jun 2009 – front-end developer
http://www.webweaver.co.nz/case-studies/list/mfe

The 13,000-page Ministry for the Environment website was looking old and tired, and the Ministry
wanted a medium-term website redesign solution that would allow them to keep their old legacy
content, while bringing the look & feel up to date. The Ministry web team needed to be able to
transfer their entire website into our new design and set of best-practice e-government compliant
Dreamweaver templates as painlessly as possible, and the CSS also had to include matching styles
for all their old content code.

I was responsible for the initial quote, some information architecture, site schematics, ongoing
project management and client liaison, HTML and CSS, jQuery and JavaScript, e-government and
accessibility compliance, testing, site delivery and ongoing support.

Achievements:
• Created a templated design that demonstrated web design and e-government best-practice,
while being flexible enough to be able to handle and display thousands of pages of legacy
content, coded using many different techniques over a number of years.
• Built Dreamweaver templates to a totally new design but which matched the old templates in
terms of structure, so that when the web team came to do the global 'find and replace' that
would replace their old templates with our new ones, the site held together, and could be
trusted to display the vast majority of pages as expected, without the web team needing to
view all 13,000 pages before launch.
• Matched the styles of my new best-practice HTML to a long list of legacy code that was already
being used on the site and which we had to take into account, providing identical CSS styles for
both old and new HTML. This allowed old pieces of code to display in exactly the same way as
the new code, without the need to update the content all at once.

Alison Green’s CV – July 2017 8
Appendix A: Web design and development listing

The following is a chronological list of some of the 250+ websites I have worked on since 1996.
They are listed in reverse chronological order, with the most recent at the top.

Award-winning sites have a * after the website name, one * for each award.

URLs in green indicate a clickable link to the live website. URLs (in brackets) indicate that the site
has been re-designed since I worked on it. These are not clickable.

Dates Website URL Work carried out
2017 Kindergarten in progress New SilverStripe website
Association of NZ
2017 Aceso Health in progress New SilverStripe website
2017 Wild Workouts in progress New WordPress website
2017 CareerBytes careerbytes.co.nz Client liaison, project management,
website alterations and updates,
design development, HTML5, CSS3,
browser and device testing
(SilverStripe CMS)
2016 - TEAM Asparona teamasparona.com Helping to complete the site and get
2017 it launched – client liaison, project
management, WordPress wrangling,
content loading, browser and device
testing (WordPress CMS)
2016 Vision Wallcoverings visionwall.com.au Ongoing maintenance and updates,
onwards webmaster (WordPress CMS)
2016 - Marlborough mvh.co.nz Theme selection, client liaison,
2017 Vintners Hotel project management, IA/UX,
wireframing, HTML5, CSS3,
responsive web design/dev, some
content loading, graphics, CMS
training (WordPress CMS)
2016 The Play Press playpress.co.nz Ongoing maintenance and updates,
onwards webmaster (Joomla! CMS)
2016 Major Consulting majorconsulting.co.nz Theme selection, client liaison,
onwards Group project management, IA/UX,
wireframing, HTML5, CSS3,
responsive web design/dev, content
loading, graphics, CMS training
(WordPress CMS)
Alison Green’s CV – July 2017 9
Dates Website URL Work carried out
2016 - Office of Film & classificationoffice Conversion of Dreamweaver
2017 Literature .govt.nz and templates to two matching
onwards Classification censor.org.nz SilverStripe sites - client liaison,
project management, CMS UX/IA,
wireframing, browser and device
testing, post-integration template
testing, e-government compliance
testing, content-loading/formatting,
proof-reading, QA, CMS training
(SilverStripe CMS)
2016 & Transpower web-based application UX consultation and design,
2017 accessible to responsive application design,
Transpower staff only responsive front-end development,
HTML5, CSS3, LESS, graphics,
browser and device testing (bespoke
.net build)
2016 New World Club clubcard.co.nz Front-end development for two sets
Card of templates (mobile and desktop),
HTML5, CSS3, SASS, graphics,
browser and device testing (bespoke
CMS)
2016 Education New enz.govt.nz Responsive front-end development,
Zealand HTML5, CSS3, SASS, graphics, e-govt
accessibility compliance, browser
and device testing (SilverStripe CMS)
2016 Aspiring Walls aspiringwalls.co.nz Host/server transfer and migration,
ongoing maintenance and updates,
webmaster (WordPress CMS)
2015 Grosvenor KiwiSaver no longer online Client liaison, project management,
UX/IA, wireframing, design
development, responsive web
design/dev, HTML5, CSS3 for a new
online registration process (asp.net
site)
2015 - Office of Film and (classificationoffice Client liaison, project management,
2016 Literature .govt.nz) UX/IA, wireframing, responsive web
Classification design/dev, graphics, HTML5, CSS3,
LESS, jQuery, e-govt accessibility
compliance, browser and device
testing, content-loading/formatting
(Dreamweaver templates)
2015 ServiceIQ multiple backend and UX/IA, wireframing, design, HTML,
frontend systems, CSS3, system overview and
websites and apps consolidation consultation
Alison Green’s CV – July 2017 10